Online dating site put bike riders on same team

So when DanishCyclist (Peter Hemmingsen), noticed that AggieGirl98 (Jennifer Johnson) mentioned on her OkCupid dating profile that she was the captain of the Frito-Lay MS150 bike team, he had a feeling. He asked her to go for a bike ride.

For at least a week, Peter waited for a response. He soon found out that this intriguing bike captain also traveled internationally for work. When Jennifer finally got the message in June, she looked over Peter’s profile.

“There was just something about his face,” she says. “I told my friends, ‘I don’t know what it is — he looks kind and sincere,’ and you don’t always see that.”

They messaged back and forth, finding instant rapport. Their commonalities slowly unfolded.

“It started with cycling and then we branched into wine,” she says. “I was in Argentina and trying a lot of neat wines. He’s a big wine buff, but he tends to like Italian and French wines. It was kind of neat.”

They agreed to meet when she returned for a glass of wine at Vino 100 in Uptown. Three hours later, they had shared a bottle of Argentine wine — and a pizza and an unexpected kiss.

Peter says such a gesture on a first date is rare, but he wanted to let her know that he was interested and didn’t want to play games.

“I usually have a pretty good filter for the typical ‘Dallasy’ terms and ‘Dallasy’ attitudes, and I didn’t pick up any of that,” says Peter, 33. “Anybody who talks about any kind of designer clothing or anything in their profile is not what I’m looking for.”

Jennifer, too, had specifics on what she was looking for: a guy who is down-to-earth. That had been hard to find until Peter.

“On a first date, you meet a lot of guys who are really nervous or really talky,” says Jennifer, 35. “For him to be not talky but yet bold enough to reach across the table and kiss me, I was kind of caught off-guard, but it impressed me.”

Peter kissed Jennifer again when he walked her to her car, and then they made plans to get together again midweek. On their third date, Jennifer had him over for dinner. Within 30 days, they had 15 dates.

“I think from the very beginning I felt he was the one,” says Jennifer, who now works in supply-chain strategy at PepsiCo. “But I was so cautious. I was asking a lot of questions and really making sure.”

By October, Peter and Jennifer attended a premarital class at her church and found they were compatible and spiritually matched.

“There was never a roadblock,” says Peter, an estimator in the body shop at Sewell Automotive. “It was always more exciting the next day. I knew I didn’t want to let her go.”

Jennifer told Peter that she would never marry in the hot summer, it would either have to be a spring or fall wedding — and she needed six months to plan. They booked the church, pastor, reception hall and bought a wedding dress.

The photographer suggested they shoot the engagement photos pronto, which they set up for the day before Thanksgiving. Peter says Jennifer’s friends were wondering why there was no ring. He had to fix that. He enlisted the photographer’s help.

Jennifer kind of suspected that Peter would pop the question that day, but after several wardrobe changes and two locations later (from Deep Ellum to White Rock Lake), nothing. Finally Peter started acting nervously.

“He told me he felt so blessed to have me in his life,” she says. “It was really sweet, and I was amazed.”

The proposal setting was perfect because they often bike around White Rock. Now that they’re married — they tied the knot April 14 at Covenant Church in Carrollton — Peter will join Jennifer and the Frito-Lay cycling team for the MS150, which has special significance.

“It’s a real big passion for me because my brother has MS,” says Jennifer, who has always hoped her husband would share this event. “It’s going to be really exciting. And to find somebody at 35 who wants children. It wasn’t a requirement, but it’s really going to be nice to have our own children.”

Do you have a story of True Romance? We’d like to hear from you. Email Kathleen Green at dmngreen@sbcglobal.net.